These four swing states had conservative supreme courts. Now progressives control them all

Progressives officially gained a 4-3 majority on Wisconsin's Supreme Court on Tuesday when Janet Protasiewicz was sworn in to replace a conservative justice, capping off a string of progressive takeovers of the top courts in several pivotal swing states throughout the Rust Belt and Upper Midwest in recent years.

During the 2012 elections, Barack Obama carried Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, continuing a string of Democratic presidential victories in each state going back to 1992. But at the same time, Republicans or conservatives enjoyed majorities on all four states' supreme courts. Now, however, Democrats or progressives control all of them.

Flipping these courts has major implications for stopping gerrymandering, preserving voting rights, and preventing far-right efforts to steal elections, as Donald Trump attempted following his 2020 defeat. These judicial transformations will also have a considerable impact on  a host of other important issues, such as protecting access to abortion.